The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-05-24
DETECTIVE METHODS.
7.r RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN Po-
LICE AND CRIMINALS
Work that l. Very Dull ana ''"''''' '">
Practical Notwithstanding 'h'
r,os.,o,als-The Weeks Murder
-oossuoning the Crooks


-ooss uoning the Crooks
No,hi,c hotter illustrates the new relation
.,.,'.,o.,,cop criminals and the police than
che curious features OF police "oFK' ~"
- ;s s., tbc case that the head Of detec'
,ive force. upon being confronted Win a
mysterious crime. picks out man III MS
command and says:
robinson. here is "A penkmie an" iah
81, ,,,l,bers left by mysterious murdcfer'
toko them and track him down
Thai was the old way 10 still Is ID the
..',,,,r,i and man had Z be a Nidocq 70
ao,he work Persons nowadays VINO think
.I...,,,.,,,ir detective work Of fiction and
~ sts,,e are like the work Of today marvel
greatly when they see "a stupid l"'klhs'
coarse. clumsy fellow. such As some Ne"
Work detectives are and say % themselves
Jsit possible that such man can play as
many parts a. great actor and possesss
, mind both broad and subtle capable oi
Nonieuse, 40 1t is only once in while
that sich genius Is needed, and then II he Is
NOT ai hand we get along without him. AMI
sdd another crime 20 the list II mysteries
ala Burlen. a Ia Nathan, Ia Ross and la
Stewart's body.
The hasis Of detective work now is tn" ac-
ouaiutance u detectives with criminals.
Every such fine tooth combng as ms one
inst finished eulargcs that acquaintance and
makes it deeper It's frighuuIly dull and
mosaic. but its found % he practical ana
reasonably efficient For instance, We have
n large force here I'm New York under In
ton. l.f
There are about fifty full iledsed detective
sergeants. who IT, paid and rank IS police
serreants. and there are about lW detectives,
who rank as patrolmcn The latter are
keenlv ambitious % become sergeants the
sergeants are equally ambitious not % De- re-
duced 10 their former rank as pairolmen
There YOU have the motive Of the corps
Each one has his work cut out for him, and
be- makes himself proficient in that during
dull times
A CLOSE ACQUAINTANCE.
Just before the Weeks murder, for instance.
such conversations as these occurred between
Byrnes and DIS men:
"Mr. Ryan. is Jack Sheppard still living in
Harlem. and does he hang out in McManns
gin mill, and is that woman still with him"
u don't think there's been any change, sir,
Is the reply.
well, run up 10 Harlem and find out all
about him and what he is up o. Mr. Doyle,
skip over 10 Fort Hamilton and look after
your parties, Blueskin, Red Leary, Guy
Fawkes and the Kid Find out al about
EN-"
A prodigious amount Of knowledge Is
gained aud kept uP in this way Give each
man several subjects, AS each ono has and
the result is that there is not a professional in
town who cannot be located in an hour if bee
is in town. OF tracked if out Of town. This
knowledge embraces "a close acquaintance
with the habits Of the crooks, their mis-
tresses. friends. the liquor stores and gam
bling hells they frequent, the fences where
they borrow when hard up, and the lines Of
work 0u which they operate, as well as the
gangs they operate with u is said that our
city detectives know all this absolutely But
this Weeks case went beyond all this When
they ceased their blind and general work and
settled upon Greonwcll, Of the lodging house
gang. as the man, they said that they knew
from the first that the crime was not the
work Of good men. Professional criminals
are always spoken respectfully OF hy the p0-
lice as good men The truth probably is that
they felt pretty certain IL was not the work Of
IA professional because it did not tally with
professional methods.
Good men, said Superintendent Murray,
"wili do anything rather than shoot when
they are cracking place They viii giyeup
the job, run away, OF even take "a beating be-
fore they viii pull trigger It is only when
they are comcred and sec a long sentence
staring them IN the face that obey will COM
nit an assault, and then they prefer not 20
kill"
But whateyerthep0 police knew, they despised
no efforts, however contrary 20 reason. that
might lead 90 the capture Of Weeks slayer
With very few exceptions every captain,
ward fly cop sergeant and roundsman in
New York, and very many patroimeu be-
sides interested themselves in this case. and
as each one knew some criminals. criminals
friends. haunt OF women, the cindcr heap got
u good sitting
HELP PROM THE CROOKS.
And thus we come 20 the curious relation
ship existing between these forces naturally
so hostile The police made the crooks help
them. They almost always do. Seymour,
the detective, hunted up Rodney, the bunco
man.
"Redney,r said the detective. u want 10
get on to this Weeks job. II you get a tip
lets have il, old man; what dye sayi VIII
yerr
Relney says be- viii, and 70 does every
crook the detective has such a conversation
with, which is about every one he meets.
While this was going ON other distinguished
crooks were being tapped ON the shoulder and
hidden 90 "be at the central office tomorrow,
the super wants To- see you" or "the inspector
wants You" They came i'm every instance,
knowing that they must They were politely
questioned IL was interesting: It al
ways Is interesting to sec how differ
entity different ones behaved Some
burglars and sneaks and forgers
consider II great honor % bee in demand IN
tins way 1t fattcrs their vanity 10 be
called on and o. find themselves i'm an easy
chat with authority clothed in blue and
starred with gold They become as loquacious
as women. Others ARE sulen and defiant
They want nothing 10 90 with authority.
They consider themselves abused These last
are In the minority, however, and it has been